Citizens Offer Up Solutions To Gang Trouble

By 250 News

One of the five large roundtables part of last night's Anti-Gang summit session

Prince George, B.C. - After listening to the first-hand experience of a former gang member, approximately 160 city residents took part in roundtable discussions at the Anti-Gang summit's public evening session.

Participants rotated through five stations where they considered the following questions: 

1. What is currently working well in our community to combat gang violence?
2. What more could be done to successfully combat gang violence
3. Who can help stop gang violence and crime and how do we support them?
4. How can we learn about, and share information about, gang crime?
5. What do you need to (be) able to respond to issues of gang crime in your family, your neighbourhood and your community?

Lead facilitator, Dr. Theresa Healy says, the theme of the evening was, 'It starts with me'.  Healy says, "Too often, we expect to sit and have the solutions done for us, or we'll sit and listen to a presentation and go away expecting city council or the police to do something about it."

She says, "This process actually looks at the idea that the people who live with the problems are probably the best situated to say what will solutions will work."  She says many of the recommendations to come out will probably be directed at city council, the RCMP, the courts and social agencies, but this public involvement engages and empowers citizens.  "It really makes individuals and families and groups of people become not only engaged, but actually looking for accountability themselves to be involved in community solutions."

Dr. Healy hopes to have a summary report of the session ready to present to the rest of the summit today, "And, if there are recommendations, they will be forwarded on behalf of the group."  Her greatest hope is that participants left the session feeling like they can do something, no matter how small.  "I don't want to see people walking away overwhelmed and depressed and dispirited about the issue of gangs and gang violence because if that happens, they've won, but if people walk away from this thinking, 'I like my neighbours, I think there's something we can do', then that, to me, is the most concrete thing."

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